Beyond Asana

When practicing asana, many try to pack as much activity into their sadhanas as possible. This makes them feel that they've received the maximum value for their time invested. And logically, it seems like more work should produce superior results.

Similarly, many musicians try to impress themselves and/or others by packing as many notes as possible into their solos. And those who judge music intellectually might be impressed by this. However, those who are lured by music's aesthetic qualities will naturally glean that the truly talented artists play the silence as much as the notes.

Likewise, a skillful yogi understands that intuition, stillness and ease are as important as alignment, movement and dynamic expression.

Although, to many, this may sound counter intuitive, some will instinctively sense the truth in these words. The truth that the wisdom of the body, and that wafting through the air, are as valuable as anything that the mind can grasp or contain. Even for those who accept this, it can take years to move from accepting the concept to fully employing it.

It's just one in an endless string of lessons along the way. But it's a profound one that opens the door to an otherwise inaccessible field of potential insights.

There can be no yoga (union of body, mind and spirit) as long as the ego insists on maintaining its dominance. As long as practice is solely about going through the steps, about following given guidelines to a predetermined goal. It's ironic that once the ego relinquishes rigid control, its wishes are granted more quickly and comfortably - with unexpected bonuses. But that's how it is.

Sure, one can improve his/her performance of the postures with diligent practice. But practicing asana is not practicing yoga. Asana practice makes for a healthy body. Yoga practice makes for a healthy mind. Together, they make for a fuller being, greater connection to living and a more gratifying life.

Lessons of Life

The world is our teacher.
We learn much more
when we embrace the belief
that we don't already know.
Shhh ... Listen.
The silence is speaking.

Humanity

Originally, humanity wasn't a term that identified our species. It signified an ideology of how we're “supposed” to feel, think and act. It symbolized the epitome of our best nature and highest aspirations.

We can rationalize our morals. We can act in accordance with rules, designed to guide us toward behaving humanely. But the nature of thoughts and emotions is sporadic, erratic and easily distorted. It's simply not practical to rely on them to steadily lead us into embodying our humanity.

Hence, my heavy focus on connecting to, and living in connection with, our silent selves. And, in using that to set our bearings. Our individual selves only exist inside of our thoughts. When we release our attachment to them, we naturally sense our interconnectedness with all of existence.

If we can learn to regard our individual perspective as just one of many, and let our eternal and universal awareness be our guiding light, we will genuinely inherit and exemplify our true humanity.

Ahhh

The thinking mind isn't comfortable with the empty nature of our unadorned awareness. So it gathers anything it can find, in order to cobble an avatar together, to act as a stand in for our most basic and enduring being. But, as most quickly learn to prioritize their cognitive capacities over all else, the stand in typically winds up getting credit for being the lead. This is, of course, based on the premise that there is consciousness that exists independent of the body/brain.

However, the onus isn't all on the individual. Being born into a culture that's already succumbed to this delusion, we're taught to accept the falsehood from the onset. Many would look at you as if you were whacked out of your gourd were you to tell them the truth. In fact, they likely wouldn't be able to fathom what you were talking about, because it runs so contrary to the foundations of their self and world views.

We need to have our identities, if we are to act with purpose and direction. Scientists would never make brilliant discoveries after years of research, if they didn't adopt the quest for knowledge as a part of their purpose. Artists wouldn't hone their skills without a sense that expressing the unspeakable was integral to their being. Suffering is curtailed because some embody their charitable nature. And societies are built around the components of people assuming roles.

But our identities aren't nearly as consistent as most assume they are, and shouldn't be guarded or taken too seriously .

Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, aspirations, etc. are constantly changing. Yet most cling to the illusion that their mental activities represent their continuous and stable beings. If this were the case, then, over the course of your life, there have been a great many “yous” inhabiting your body. (Which is also in a constant state of change.) If you review your life, without a fog bias, you'll likely recognize that only the "watcher" has remained relatively unchanged. But most are lost in their mindscapes and go through their lives on auto pilot, essentially sleep walking, as the engrained patterns of their minds repeat themselves, ad nauseum.

It doesn't take any magical powers to step back from our mental activity and rest in that quiet space. It just takes the sincere intention and a bit of practice. And through practicing that, we learn to not take the mental happenings personally.

It may appear and/or feel scary, initially. But it's kind of like looking at the bubbling water in a hot tub and assuming that it's boiling. Once you climb in and get acclimated, it's really quite pleasant. Ahhh.

Kick the Habit

(For ease of reading and writing, in this article “thoughts” encompasses all mental activities – thoughts, emotions, images, intentions, desires, etc.)

Thoughts occur in the present, and it's possible to observe them happening in the moment. But 99.999% of the time, people are swept up in their thoughts and lose that larger perspective. In all fairness, it's a pretty advanced practice to not do so. We have to begin by learning to greet them at their source, see how they arise and how they enforce and sustain each other. Then we learn to witness their birth and let them go, as they form. This nurtures a feeling of dispassion toward them, which is a precursor to being able to follow them without being engulfed by them.

There is, of course, no need to break out of those old habits, unless one wants to be unconditionally content and in actual control of his/her thoughts and actions.

When living inside of thoughts, we're drawn along by their currents and easily bumped off course by any other errant thoughts that may collide with us. It's like being the ball in a pinball machine instead of standing outside of it and controlling the flippers. And thoughts are never satiated. If we wait for thoughts to complete themselves, in order to feel satisfied, it will never happen. If we wait for the world to fall in line with our thoughts, satisfaction will arise only in fleeting moments, at the very best.

Habits can be hard to change, but they're just habits. And these habits of mental conduct don't define us any more than habits of smoking or overeating do. And they're no more a given way of being, beyond our control.

Sure, pretty much everyone else does it that way. The same could have been said of smoking 70 years ago. With luck, in another 70 years, the majority will have adopted the healthier habit of rising above, and maintaining perspective of, their thoughts.

I wonder - how can we get the surgeon general to put a warning label on the side of our thought boxes?

Illusory Grains in an Ethereal Desert

Some say that we're nothing more than our bodies. Many profess that we are eternal souls, temporarily inhabiting a physical realm. I suspect that we, as individuals, are more like unique ripples, echoes or reflections of an undetectable and unfathomable impetus. A momentum that's not of this realm, yet interacts with it, and has been doing so since long before our species arose.

Our being is evidence of its being, much the way that excessively bending light waves from distant galaxies are evidence of the existence of dark matter. Or the way we know that electrons are there, because of their affects, even though we can't see or pinpoint them.

It's comforting to imagine that there's something enduring, that is specifically and uniquely us, as individual beings. There are many stories and promises of continuing life after our physical death. Some claim recollection of past lives, and express it as though they were entirely personal experiences.

In the world around us, we can clearly see that events happen, and things come and go, as a natural matter of course. Everything being inter-dependent with everything else, and the cosmos represents a grander example of this same causal process. In theory, the greater world is as much a reflection of a non-physical unfolding as we are. So it makes sense that, from a larger perspective, the individual players are only fleeting wisps of smoke, dwarfed by the scale of space and time. And that our notions of remaining whole and consistent for all of eternity are unrealistic and childishly fanciful.

I, of course, know no more or less than anyone else about such things. From our vantage point, we simply can't see. And since it's so easy for us to be misled or to misinterpret things, we shouldn't assume certainty, even if we could.

Speculation can be a fun and inspiring endeavor. But in the end, if we're truthful, we have no choice but to let the mystery be.

Assignment d'jour:

Rekindle a lost or fading relationship.

Passing the Baton

BANG! And the race begins. Not a race to a finish line somewhere, but to one sometime. It's not a race that anyone wants to finish in a hurry. No running is required - just persevering. There are no victors - only survivors. But the scenery is unbelievably glorious, the companionship is deeply nourishing and the potential for growth is immeasurable.

Whether we realize it or not, we carry a baton with us from end to end in this odyssey. One that, by natural law, we'll pass on at the end of our race - just as it was handed to us in our pre-infancy. Of course, we don't actually own our batons any more than water molecules own the waves that pass through them.

As we roll along, our batons absorb the essence of both, the lessons we learn, and those we ignore. They record all of our relations, aspirations and interpretations. Our moods and thoughts are etched into their flesh. Through this process, the quality that they had when we received them changes continuously throughout the race. And our cumulative affects on them determine how they will resonate when we hand them off, as we break the tape.

The batons we carry greatly influence who and how we are. As they will the next, in this eternal relay. We may not be able to change how our batons are, immediately, but we are responsible for how we influence them. And we can choose how they mature and how weighty they are when we pass them along.

Of course, this takes more than proclaiming a desire to do so. Continually refining one's intention is the means of directing its development. And the results are commensurate with the diligence, attention and effort applied, over the course of a lifetime.

There's no obligation. Evolution happens on its own. But we are uniquely capable of deliberately re-forming our own batons. And for some, it's uplifting to respectfully consider the future recipients of this life's actions and attitudes.

On Asana

Proper alignment means little without appropriate engagement.

Question(s) d'jour:

What will it take to make our societies and politicians wake up to the reality that we are stubbornly and steadily barreling down a road toward undesirable and irrevocable ends?

What can we do to wake our leaders up, make them understand the urgency and get them to act for our future welfare?

On Asana

Don't ask what your body can do for you.

Ask what you can do for your body.

Assignment d'jour:

Envision a more practical and sustainable lifestyle for yourself and our communities.

Envision yourself taking steps in that direction.

Put one foot in front of the other.

On Asana

It’s not how well your body gets into the posture.
It’s how well the posture gets into your body.

Question(s) d'jour:

As previously addressed, our mood is not beyond our control. So, respond to this one by feeling the answer, rather than with words.

How do you want to feel?

Assignment d'jour:

Imagine that this planet was your creation and
your “pet”.

Consider humanity's affects on your beloved.

Contemplate how you contribute to sustaining humanity's momentum.

Question(s) d'jour:

Who would you be if you were born and raised by Aborigines in the Australian outback, in Nazi Germany, to a junky in the ghetto or as a member of a Taliban tribe?

What of you isn't due to acculturation?

Remember Tibet

“Free Tibet” is an appealing notion; but honestly, it's a lot like saying “free America”. The place is still there on the planet and on a map, but it's no longer the Tibet that existed before the Chinese invasion and occupation. The culture is trying to stay alive by sustaining traditional practices, both in Tibet and among Tibetans, now displaced into other countries. But the government that once spent over 80% of its resources on education, and prioritized the welfare of its people and environment, has been replaced. The current rulers have turned the place from a haven for higher thinking into a tacky tourist trap, and decimated the surrounding country side for minerals and monetary gain. Each passing year leaves fewer left, who lived in that alpine Eden. And much of the art and literature that represented the culture was “cleansed” as a part of China's assimilation.

There are now two Tibets. One is the “should be re-named” monastic mountaintop metropolis, that's now another nook of China. The other is a memory – a recollection of a people, a philosophy and an ideology that still echos from the society that shouted its prayers into the Himalayas, many years ago.

And it's a memory worthy of passing on. All peoples and governments should aspire to the nobility that Tibet once exemplified. Each culture would do well to embody the spirit of universal brotherhood that was woven into the genome of its population of yore. Everyone who proudly thinks that their society is the apex of civilization needs the heaping helping of humility that would come through reflecting on the priorities and values that Tibet used to espouse.

So while “Free Tibet” makes a marketable bumper sticker, “Remember Tibet” is a motto that could potentially lead to societal evolution on a global scale.

Question(s) d'jour:

Occasionally, loss, accident or near calamity alert us to the value of every day life.

How can you sustain your appreciation of being?

Assignment d'jour:

OK. Let's try a little twist on the holiday tradition.

Think, or make a list, of the things you've experienced, which you thought were horrible at the time,
yet are now grateful to have gone through.

On Asana

Our practice becomes skillful when we accept that we don't know what to do, or precisely how to do it,
nearly as well as our bodies do.
Our task isn't to know such things, as much as it is,
to know how to listen to our bodies, their instincts and our intuition; and, how to guide our movements accordingly.

On Asana

Don't move, then feel.
Feel as you move.

Question(s) d'jour:

What would it take to give you confidence in your own intuitive powers?

What would motivate you to incorporate them in your decision making processes?

Eureka!

Brilliant discoveries and great insights don't come from getting the right answers.

They come from asking the right questions.

On Asana

Move into your postures with the same level of attentiveness that you would apply
when putting your hands into the sudsy dishwater, after pulling out a half of a broken glass.

Assignment d'jour:

Imagination is the source of everything.
Exercise yours to keep it in prime condition.

On Asana

Don't work on your body.
Work with it.

Question(s) d'jour:

Who/how do you want to be, today?
In the next few minutes?
How about now?

Assignment d'jour:

Actions become habitual. Intentions and priorities are frequently discounted if/when they contradict our actions. Take time each day and, whenever possible, before acting to make sure that your actions are in line with your most honest heartfelt ambitions.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you had no ties or obligations, what would you want to do and/or be?

How well does that resonate with your deepest sensibilities?

Assignment d'jour:

This is another one that'll take practice to be able to appreciate it.

As you're “speaking” your thoughts, try to not “say” the last word or three. It may be difficult to do, at first; but once you figure it out, you'll find that the content of the thought is there in full, without it being fully articulated. After you've mastered this, you can shorten you verbalizations even more. Eventually, you'll be able to know your thoughts without spelling them out.

This practice helps one to see that thinking is a process separate from the seed notions and from the observer that sees all.

Question(s) d'jour:

What is the source of your thoughts and feelings?
What are they before they're born in your mind?

Assignment d'jour:

Remember that you can't tend to the world's needs, unless you tend to yourself first.

Take a nap. Go to a movie. Walk in the wilderness. Dine out. Spend some time doing your favorite hobby. Whatever it is, do something to make yourself feel good. If others get involved too, that's an extra bonus.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could choose to be any other species, which would it be and why?

Just Do It

There are a lot of techniques that fall into the category of meditation. I've taught many, as different people respond better to different practices. All are just doorways to another way of seeing, understanding and being. So, in the end, the door you choose is of little consequence, if it leads you to the right place.

First, you need to come to know your own mind, through dispassionately observing it in action. This frequently goes hand in hand with gaining the requisite control over its activities. Then you need to learn to let go of your attachment to, and identification with, it.

You are not who you think you are. This is a crucial realization. (For those who seek the truth)

It's not about nailing down the correct idea of what/who you are. It's about sensing what/who you are, and living in accordance with that, in the steadily mutating moment. This isn't an extraordinary way of being. Pretty much everyone has been there for brief flashes, many frequently. But most aren't actually aware of just what's going on, while it's happening.

It's not about learning some trick that magically makes everything alright, either. It's about seeing that it already is. Everything is imperfect; ergo, imperfection is a given aspect of all existence and action - and therefore, of perfection, too.

Acceptance, patience, gratitude, compassion, humility, ... There are many different qualities that need to be nurtured, in order to create the openness required, for us to be who we are. Harmonious actions and lifestyles, flow naturally from an attuned way of being. But for most, it's necessary to regulate actions and lifestyles first. Ideally, that helps to ingrain the attitudes that form the foundation for surrendering to the truth.

To think that we already know, intellectually, is to delude ourselves. To walk the path, is to seek to verify that our understanding is wrong - to step out of the world we've created in our heads, so that we can stand tall and walk forth, in a new world. One made different by our viewing it through fresh eyes.

There is no finish line to cross, after which the work is done. It's like balancing on one foot. You can get more comfortable with it and learn to stay there for longer, but eventually you have to walk, or think.

The Buddha, Jesus and many other spiritual teachers have said that we're already divine. That the truth is simply obscured behind a cloud of self-perpetuating illusions. And that, regardless of which door we choose, our task is to shed our skin of arrogance and ignorance, and embrace our opportunity to help heal the world. Only this, can bring us the fulfillment and enduring happiness that we all seek.

So pick a door, any door, step through it and bask in the wonderland that you were born into. It's what you really want, and it's what the world needs.

Born Sinners

We aren't born hardwired to commit adultery or steal or lie or preform any “sinful” act. But our very existence requires us to kill to eat, to pollute when we defecate or dispose of our scraps, to foul the water when we bathe, the air when we breathe and to mar the planet when we build our homes and highways upon it.

For those who still believe that the earth was built just for for us to do whatever we want with, that very idea is a sin against creation, itself. It's a glaringly pompous notion that should have passed away with the belief that our little planet is the center of the universe.

Our existence requires that we do harm to the earth and to other living beings on it. This is the way it is. The sin is in presuming superiority and taking what we reap from the earth, and the sacrifices it makes to sustain us, for granted.

On Asana

It’s not how well your body gets into the posture.
It’s how well the posture gets into your body.

Assignment d'jour:

OK. This is a big one. To do it properly will require keeping up with it for a number of days.

Take some paper and begin to compile a list of your habits. You'll start with the big bad easy ones. Then you'll think of some of your beneficial habits. But there are many very subtle ones that you do all the time, which will take persistence to see. Put your wishes aside and be brutally honest, as you scrutinize your smallest actions, and especially, your reactions. (Including your thoughts and emotional responses.)

If you do this right, many of you will be quite surprised by how much of your activity is done automatically.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could choose to be anyone else, who would it be and why?

Assignment d'jour:

Get fapitzed for no real reason and, once preened, go out in public and carry on as you normally would. Notice if you feel any different and if others look at or treat you differently.

Question(s) d'jour:

How/where do you sabotage yourself?
Why do you do it?
What can you do about it?

Assignment d'jour:

Take a few minutes to rummage around through your childhood. See if you can find any dreams you may have left there that are still worth wishing for. If so, dust them off and prominently display them on a shelf, in the present.

Question(s) d'jour:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Assignment d'jour:

Pause to imagine a favorable future. This can be a years long view, imagining a care free drive across town or just remembering where you left your keys.

Whenever you entertain your future circumstances, practice optimism. Being mindful is more than a fanciful notion for those with nothing better to do. Expectations and imagination sway events.

Question(s) d'jour:

Is there something that you've been wanting to do or set into motion that you can initiate today?

Excuse Me

Excuses abound, and always will. We must expand our motivation to overcome the present momentum, or lack there of, if we wish to achieve anything.

Assignment d'jour:

Complacency isn't a successful strategy for anything. Need I say it?

Get out there and vote.

Question(s) d'jour:

How do you want to feel?

Who's in Charge Around Here, Anyway?

Although, most people don't think that they're at the mercy of their thoughts, they do seem to feel as though they're at the mercy of their feelings. And since our feelings are such tangible phenomena, that appear to arise and thrive independently, most think their emotions happen to them, as well.

It's true that feelings just bubble up within us. But we're no more obligated to sustain them, than we are any other notions that may arise in the realms of recollection, fantasy or conjecture. Our emotional capacities are merely for consideration, as another “sense” with which we can interpret our world.

Problems begin when we give them too much credit and cling to them for whatever reasons. Fixation can produce fabulous talent, glorious art and wondrous invention. But it can also lead to debilitating emotional states and compulsive neurosis.

We have a kind of gravitational attraction that lures thoughts and feelings, and causes them to stick to us - until they're dislodged by the next one, or intentionally brushed off.

Any notion that begins to sprout, whether it's destined for an emotional or conceptual birthing, is ours to attend to or ignore. This, either as we see fit, or as we blissfully tool along, in auto pilot. (Ignorance being bliss, that is.)

It's easy to get caught up in the dramas that we fabricate inside of our heads. It's like the ones that grab us through the TV. Stories have their own “static cling”, which adds to our natural gravitational force, making them even harder to keep at arms length. They can make us feel really good, and can be positive experiences - or the contrary. The inner stories feel real, in the same way that movies feels real, when we allow ourselves to get caught up in them. But the inner story doesn't turn off. It never stops being written, and re-edited. And our selves are defined by our stories.

Or so the story teller would like us to believe.

We can learn to take our stories more like novels being read to us, and see them as just one accounting. A single sampling of the bigger unfolding. We develop an awareness of the space between us and our dramas. Then we can see that our emotions are responses to how life is relating to our sensibilities. Those sensibilities, being a reflection of our stories. And so, we see that they have no realness outside of the attention that we give to them.

The clearer our perspective, the easier to be free of our emotions. Not free, as in “devoid of”, but rather, as “not a slave to”. But it isn't necessary to hold a saintly overview to begin to take charge. Simply imagining that it's possible and daring to step out of your habituated and/or knee jerk patterns, is really all it takes. Then it's just a matter of practice.

Chromatically Correct

We are like chameleons. We naturally reflect the changing colors around us, to the point that they manifest in our skin. Sometimes they persuade us to pleasing tints. Other times they prompt us to clash with our own sensibilities. We flash flirtatious come-ons and blare ominous warning signals. Our hues elicit reactions from others, initiating waves of shifting shades that cascade throughout humanity.

And, like a chameleon, we also have the capacity to stain our skin, as we choose - if we choose. Unfortunately, many have forgotten, or never even learned, that this is an option. It takes practice and real-time attentiveness to man the reigns and control our tones. We can un-muddy the mix and transform our chaos into harmony, making moving works of art out of ourselves. And, as our skill improves, we can come together as an intentionally orchestrated symphony of shimmering colorations.

In my fantasies, our collective collage is color coordinated with the earthen tones of the natural world.

All great changes begin with a dream. Care to join me in mine?

Assignment d'jour:

In the morning, think of three things in your life
that you're grateful for.

At bed time, be grateful for three things, still lingering with you, from that day.

(Note:
Most of these assignments are appropriate as daily activities, and are given to inspire such commitments, as only that will instigate the intended changes.)

Question(s) d'jour:

Where did the time go?

All in Good Time

The maple, oak, sycamore and beech are neck-n-neck in their sprint to the sun.
Boulders blur in their free-fall to the molten core
from which they came.
Mountains swell to greet the clouds, even as others are buffed down to their bases.
The globe dons and sheds species and ice sheets,
the way a teenage girl gets ready for a big date.
Planets are packed together from errant fragments falling through the void, like a teenage boy
forming perfect snowballs.
Stars that speckle the skies, disappear one by one,
as they're blown out like birthday candles or
blown up like fireworks.
Galaxies flair up, do-si-do, merge and fade, the way the tops of the maple, oak, sycamore and beech do,
each lap around the sun.

Assignment d'jour:

Go outside and commune with the wind.

Age

I don't keep current on my age. It always seems to keep changing; and at some point, it just got to be too much of a nuisance to pay attention to.

It really doesn't seem to matter.

As long as I can still figure it out, I figure I'm OK.

Question(s) d'jour:

Is our disconnection from the divine due to nature or nurture?

The Not-self

There has been much written over the millennia about the not-self, but for those unfamiliar with the term, here's a nut shell definition:

There's an awareness that isn't what we think of as our self. We can experience it. We feel connected to it. In fact, it's very familiar and homey, once we open up to it. But whatever it is, it can't be captured or defined.

As the thinker only deals in tangibles, many have attempted to interpret, identify and define it. But even someone with the best of intentions, can't explain physics to a fish.

To my mind, “not-self” implies it, without trying to say what it is, or what our relationship with it is.

Assignment d'jour:

Imagine, for a moment, that your life has no momentum. That you have no relationships, obligations, plans or goals.

Consider where you'd steer you life and how you'd like to influence what, if you were working from a clean slate.

Illogically Speaking ...

Logic is indispensable, but it can also be an impediment to our understanding.

Sometimes 1+1=1.
Yin + yang = yin/yang. Light + dark = contrast. Healthy + harmful = nutrition. Up + down = elevation. Good + evil = morality.

It doesn't always have to be this or that. It can also be this and that.
Good & bad. Strong & supple. Aggressive & tender. Energetic & calm. Self & not-self.

There are occasions when you really can't get there from here.
Expressions like, “flash of insight”, “stroke of genius” and “leap of understanding” exist for a reason. We frequently need to forgo the linear path, discard our preconceptions and open ourselves up to receiving gifts from beyond our reasoning.

Sound logical?

Relation Realization

People see the world through the filter of their own languaging. This was the point of the recent assignment to try referring to yourself in third person. As long as your words imply that you're the thinker, it's very hard to escape that delusion.

Similarly, worshiping necessarily implies an inaccurate dichotomy. In a relationship of worship, one agrees to a separation between the self and the not self. It requires a deity, or a collection there of, and a subservient individual/ego. So if I were to practice worship, I'd have to assume the role of ego, which I'm clearly not.

We can experience divine presence, but we can't comprehend it. This is a very frustrating scenario for the ego, which needs to have everything tied up in nice little packages in order to deal with them.

But some things are unknowable. If we can just get out of the “I am ego” trap, then we can learn to live harmoniously with the ambiguity and mystery that infuses all of life. We don't need to understand it in order to live and work with it. Few of us know how our cars or cell phones or computers work, yet we use them comfortably every day.

The objective is to incorporate the compassion and wisdom, that comes from experiencing something greater than the ego, into the ego's motivations and actions. And to maintain an ongoing connection with that “other worldly” understanding and insight, as a means of living.

When chained to the belief that we are our ego, we can only deal with things on its terms, which is fairly limiting. The smokers ego wishes that it could stop smoking. His unknowable essence knows that it wishes the body to be healthy and the ego persona to be a non-smoker. One leaves the little mind struggling against its self-fabricated demons. The other simply puts them down, because that's the obvious, appropriate and desirable thing to do.

Worship is commonly done to curry the favor of an imaginary super being, for the benefit of the imaginary self, in an imaginary afterlife. It allows people to remain firmly ensconced in a self centered materialistic existence while thinking that they're doing something spiritual. As long as we try to know the formless/timeless in the ego's language, we're destined to fail.

Yes, we want the ego to be subservient to the greater awareness. But this only truly happens when we shed our presumption that we are ego, and embrace the truth of our own extraordinary nature.

So I will love God, respect Allah, seek council from Brahma and surrender to the great mystery. But I will not worship, because that would be a lie. I am not ego, and the bounty of expansive awareness will never fit inside of words and concepts. So I will do my best to be as selfless and helpful as I can be, and my relationship with whatever consciousness is beyond my minds comprehension, will be friendly, joyful and intimate.

(En sha Allah ;)

Question(s) d'jour:

Where do your moral sensibilities come from?
(Not the rules you've been given,
but your own instinctive sense of right/wrong.)

Assignment d'jour:

Pay a compliment or say something buoying to as many people as you can today.

Question(s) d'jour:

When did you become the person that you are,
right now?

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Take a little time to think about who you are.

Now, take a minute to be with what's happening,
in the moment.

You can think about who you are. But when you look to find the you that you think you are - in the present - you discover that there's nothing of it to be found.

“Who am I?”, is a trick question. There is no definitive answer.

All there is of you, right now, is experiencing.

Assignment d'jour:

Spend the day (or some portion of it) thinking of yourself in third person.
(e.g. Thatcher's got a lot to do to day. He'd better get his ass off the computer and get on with it.)

Stewards of the Planet

We ignore our future generations like we ignore our own waist lines, as we devour doubled desserts.

The residents of Easter Island stripped their land bare, to the point that it became unsustainable. It had to be apparent in its coming, yet their momentum won out. They essentially went extinct. Any who survived had to flee and assimilate into new cultures, to do so.

We continue to strip our floating island of as much of its resources as we can, regardless of the damage done in the process. We spew toxins into the air and dump them into the water. We decimate species and entire ecosystems. We perpetuate unsustainable practices and life styles, in denial of the harm we are causing. We even do disservice to our own welfare - all because we have momentum, long ago ill-conceived and left to run amok.

I wonder, when our island is barren, where will we flee to?

Question(s) d'jour:

How may I (you) be of service?

Assignment d'jour:

Education is critical to setting priorities and making intelligent choices. Contribute to insure the continuance of the only non-biased source of news and information we have - public broadcasting.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could make one rule for all of humanity to follow, what would it be?

The Story of Stuff

Thanks to Marni for providing this link. Hopefully, we all know most of the main points already, but it gives some new stats and a very clear overall picture of the irrationality and unsustainability of the way our society/economy/government is geared. And by all means, please share it freely with the youth.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Assignment d'jour:

Throw or give away at least one thing that you never use, yet have been holding on to for far too long.

Load Gravel

Most of us tend to accumulate so much crap that we don't have a clear inventory of what we do have. This is true in our outward collections of things and of our inner holdings of belief and self concept.

The clutter collection:

“It's useful” - It just hasn't been used (or thought of) for years.
“It's worth a lot” - Even though it wears more dust than the Gobi desert.
“It has sentimental value” - If only I could find it to remind me of the occasion.
“I can fix it or make something cool out of it” - Because no one has enough projects.
“It was a gift from ...” - And they're sure to appreciate seeing it in that box in your basement.
“You never know when you'll need another one” - So why not procure three of everything you own?

As for the inside stuff:

“It keeps me grounded” - Even if it's fictitious or ill conceived.
“It defines who I am” - Although we know we're only defined by how we're being, right now.
“Without it I wouldn't know what to do” - Because habitually is the only way to travel.
“It keeps me part of my community” - So they can tell you who/how you're supposed to be.
“Everyone does it” - Which reminds me, it's time to pay my dues to the Brittany Spears fan club.
“It's how I learned to be, how I've always been” - And I still love those little jars of pureed peas and squished squashes, too.

Let it go. Be free of clutter, inane responsibilities, personal expectations and familiar ruts. It's far more comfortable to think, listen, learn, travel, talk, work and dance when one's naked, than it is when carrying a truckload of silly superfluous souvenirs around. Lightening your load will uplift your mood, grant you clearer vision and allow you to move and groove with far greater ease and peace. I know that the moment of separation can be fraught with anxiety and angst; but once it's gone, friendly feelings, long forgotten, float to the foreground and ... ahhhh.

Question(s) d'jour:

What legacy would you wish to leave, in the end?
Why?
What legacy are you creating, now?

Assignment d'jour:

Go outside and have a heart felt talk with an old tree. Don't forget to listen. (Hugs are OK, too.)

Question(s) d'jour:

Why does it seem so important for people to hold onto their notions about who they are?
(Nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age, likes and dislikes, friends and enemies, dreams and goals, ...)
Why is it so scary to consider letting it all evaporate?

Assignment d'jour:

If you're not, imagine that you're home alone.
Now, take a few seconds to pretend that you just heard a strange noise from elsewhere in your house.

Observe your natural reaction.

Notice what happens to your thoughts, when you strain to hear.

Shhhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting tid-bits.

There's a constant stream of knowing that flows to and through us. Some of the data comes through the body and is integrated as feelings. Some is extruded into thought forms or images. And some of it is very, very subtle, audible only as tantalizing tid-bits delivered via a faint whisper floating on the breeze.

People, too often, become enamored with the influx of thoughts and feelings, deafening themselves to the subtle signals of instinct, intuition, inspiration, insight and communion with the bigger mind.

Practice straining to hear the silent signals sent from the invisible and unknowable aether, beyond the habituated and reactionary mind. Otherwise, it's like denying yourself one of your senses – and then some.

Question(s) d'jour:

Why do you want what you want?

Assignment d'jour:

Pt. II: As a practice, try to feel and act as though EVERY living being you see (non-human) is your favorite pet or animal. (Yes, even spiders and mosquitoes and mice and any other trouble makers you normally find distasteful.)

Admit it. You're lost.

It's easy to see that children lack certain overviews and understandings, and so they make many mistakes. But since they don't know any better, we can easily forgive them. At some arbitrary point, they become “old enough to know better”. Then it becomes harder to let their short comings slide.

We, of course, see the world much more accurately than anyone else, and so we should always know better. Harder still to not judge faults harshly. “Why didn't I see that coming?” “What was I thinking?” “How could I have been so stupid?” These, and other sentiments like them, have become mottoes for many.

To most, it's apparent that this is a very counter productive habit to develop and/or sustain. First, it serves to sully our mood and lower our self esteem. Additionally, if we cast our focus on berating ourselves, we distract ourselves from learning the lessons that life is offering us, in that moment. (As a result of our display of imperfection.)

If we observe from outside of ourselves, we can see that we really aren't all that much better equipped to deal with the uncertainties of living, than our children are. So we should expect mistakes out of ourselves, the same as we do with them. (Although, we'd hope, much less frequently.) Additionally, we should be just as patient and understanding with ourselves, as we under go our own processes of learning to live life.

We're all fumbling in the dark. Nobody can foresee the future. There is no instruction manual. All we have is our best guess. So, cut yourself some slack.

Admitting that you're as a child doesn't have to be heard with a negative inflection. When watching a child, we see them as full of potential with worlds to conquer and miracles to discover. We are beings of vast potential and infinite possibilities. Making mistakes is just a natural part of our process of evolution.

Learn and live, and yourself, forgive.

Question(s) d'jour:

What is the most reprehensible thing you've ever done?
Have you forgiven yourself?

Assignment d'jour:

As a practice, try to feel and act as though every single person you see and/or interact with is your most beloved child.

Belief

I believe that belief is self delusion. Not belief in the laws of gravity or that the sun will rise. But belief in exactly what exists beyond this shared physical existence. And consequently, by extension, how that relates to us and visa-versa. (Although, the nature of physical existence is still very much open for debate among scientists and philosophers, alike.)

Many comfortable and/or convenient notions sat in the throne of belief, until being dispelled by science, revelation or cultural imposition. Personally, you may have believed in the tooth fairy or that you could never love anyone besides your first love or that you'd always be friends with someone whose now long estranged. A belief is just an idea, even if it's communally agreed upon. And as reassuring as it may feel to hold on to an idea; ultimately, ideas are transient and insubstantial.

Having some sort of belief structure to guide actions and priorities, and around which to form one's life, can be useful. So, this isn't to say that one needs to discard or alter any and/or all beliefs; but rather, that there should be a perpetual “scientific” openness, even seeking, to discover a larger perspective and more accurate truth, and to become wiser and gain ever clearer vision. If belief closes one's mind to the nature of what is or to the possibility of what could be, it becomes a load stone that hampers personal evolution.

The notion of belief is often presumed as being mandatorily inflexible, I believe it should be held as malleable.

We are in and of a process that is beyond anyone's comprehension. Words can't help but to fall short in their attempts to describe glimpses of what's beyond. We, therefore, need to accept that anyone's best attempt to explain the grand scheme is intrinsically language challenged, a partial truth, and at best, a rough facsimile of what it's trying to express.

If this is all sounding negative to you, it's really not. The mystery is what keeps the quest for greater understanding active and alive within us. It coaxes us into seeking something beyond our grasp. It drives art and science and philosophy. Embracing the unknowableness of it all, is our conduit to, at least a sense of, a timeless and enduring presence beyond our beliefs and roles and habits and experiences. So, it's good and healthy and truthful for us to embrace our unavoidable ignorance.

Believe what you will. It matters not. In the long run, the truth, whatever it may be, will always win.

Question(s) d'jour:

From whence did God cometh?

The Spark

Some may imagine that our most primal emotional impulse is our fear of death.

I would speculate that it's our pre-primal yearning to be alive.

Assignment d'jour:

Set an alarm on your watch, computer, smart phone, whatever to alert you every hour, ½ hr, 15-20 mins, whatever. Then, when it sings, take a brief moment to stop what you're doing, take a full breath, close your eyes and let it out - pause to feel the open space within.

Reconnecting with your quiet self on regular intervals should have a profound affect on how you feel and function throughout your days.

Eh? What's that? Speak up!

In the land of mind-readers … Oh, but wait, I live here.

As long as I can remember, I've heard people say things like, “Couldn't you tell?”, “How could you not know?”, “I would have said something, but I thought it was obvious”, et. al. It may have been a girl I really liked who also liked me, but I had no idea. Perhaps I was supposed to not say something, according to someone else's reasoning, and I missed the memo. Did that wink mean “You know what I mean” or “You know, of course, that's not really what I mean”?

It's so clear to us how we think and feel, and we may try to show it with a look or a touch or a gesture. The problem is, the other generally doesn't pick up on it or doesn't know quite how to interpret it. We may think of ourselves as very open people with all of our cards out on the table for everyone to see. But this isn't the case unless you vocalize.

Actions, of course, speak their own language, and I would encourage you to use that, as well. But, to most, I suggest that you use your words a little more freely when there's something that you truly want another to know.

Question(s) d'jour:

I understand that we all feel a calling to know our deepest nature. It's just that it's not the right time to get too heavily into all that, right now.

When will it be? What are you waiting for?

Assignment d'jour:

Take a bag or three into your local patch of nature
and fill it/them with trash.
If possible, take some friends and their bags, too.

Perpetual Balancing Act

“Teacher, you are contradicting yourself.”

“No. Instructions have to vary as students needs change. Imagine that you're walking down the road in the dark and can't see where you're going. And that I, wearing night vision goggles am directing you. If I see you drifting off toward the ditch on your right, I'll tell you to go left. If you're too far to the left ...”

I speak repeatedly of awakening to one's quiet presence. This isn't to imply that the conceptual/emotional mind is to be abandoned or disenfranchised. It's an important and integral part of who we are. It's just that most are stuck in that ditch, so I repeatedly coach to the other side. The goal being to walk the middle way, to find and sustain balance, to stand with one foot in each world.

Question(s) d'jour:

What did you lose when you “grew up”?
Where did it go?
Is there any of it you wish you still had?
Can you reclaim it?

Assignment d'jour:

Stand in front of a mirror. Don't look at your skin, hair, attire or features. Gaze as if you're meeting a stranger that you want to know, and peer behind those eyes and into the soul. Give it a little time, then reflect on what you witnessed.

Step One: Remove the Wrapper

Following religious protocols without doing serious personal inner inquiry, on one's own, is like eating a piece of candy without removing wrapper. The accoutrements are only the surface skin and have no substantial flavor or value by themselves. They are there to entice us into trying the goodies inside. I don't know if the fact that this truth gets lost is more a result of institutional or personal short comings. I suspect both.

It's difficult to describe fresh air to someone who's never been out of the big city. It's even harder for them to imagine it. It's the same with spiritual, or non personal, experiences. There's a way of being that is open, expansive, all inclusive, loving and compassionate. There is no sense of identity when there, only the experience of being. It doesn't translate to the mundane mind. We can try to explain it using words and terms familiar to the ordinary mind. But the words are inaccurate as they leave our mouths, and become even more so, when the listener hears them using their own definitions, and needing to fit such ethereal notions into their existing fixed conceptions.

“The “you” that you think of and feel as being your self, doesn't really exist as an enduring entity.” How can people long removed from the experience of untainted awareness receive these words? Methinks they can't. Square peg, round hole. “What do you mean? I can feel my emotions and hear my thoughts. I assure you, they're quite real.” Yes, the thoughts and feelings are real. But the assumption that they constitute individual beings is misguided.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Thoughts and feelings are merely inner actions. They don't define us in any concrete way. They don't determine who we'll be in the future. And they don't just happen to us.

We commonly preform outer actions without conscious guidance. Think, tying your shoes, petting the dog, scratching an itch, flushing the toilet, gazing out the window, saying “Thank you. Have a nice day”, etc. Even driving a car. Whether it's due to daydreaming, talking, rehashing a recent conversation or whatever, while driving. Often the body is left to drive on its own, as the mind frolics elsewhere.

After years of letting the mind run amok, it seems obvious that, that's just the way it works. Further more, it typically seems like these thoughts and feelings happen to us, which is fairly funny, when paired with the assumption that they are us.

So, after peeling off the wrapper of religious facades, we find that we then need to peel off our own wrappers of mental activity and learn to watch and guide from our rightful roost, outside of those processes.

Life is sweet, when you get down to it.

Question(s) d'jour:

What nourishes your soul/spirit/core being?

The “S” Word

Stress is healthy.
Chronic stress is debilitating.

Assignment d'jour:

Stop, watch and put yourself into the mind of any wild animal(s) you see. Imagine its life, family, aspirations and struggles. Allow yourself to feel compassion and empathy. See it as kin, or a kindred spirit.
Then consider your/our influence on this one's environment, life and its species way of life.

Amazing Gracelessness

It's miraculous how intelligent we've become as a species.
Flying machines, super computers, medical marvels, ...
I can only hope that our wisdom catches up, soon.

Question(s) d'jour:

Take a few moments to think back to your earliest memories of yourself.
Is there any part of that person still living in you today? If so, what?

Invisible Cables

The jumper cables had been hanging on a hook that holds up a ladder on the wall in my shop. They'd hung there for months. My eyes had ingested them hanging there countless times.

Need to use them.
Not in this trunk …
or that one.
Must be in the shop.
With the power cords?
Under that pile by the door?
Head scratched.
Cables spotted.
How did I not know?


So, my question is, to leave that lay and let you draw your own conclusions, or to express my thoughts on the occasion? Both?

Spoiler Alert!
Further reading may hamper your personal quandary and interpretation.


At some point, the familiar frequently blends into the background. It's not a failing. The world just has too much in it. There's no way anyone can absorb and contain all that there is, in any moment; let alone, the flowing moment. The mind simply has to choose what of the “too much to take in and hold on to” is the most important. And that constitutes our personal experienced/know worlds.

Assignment d'jour:

Do a kindness or good deed for someone without their knowledge.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you were to die right now, what would be left undone? What would your biggest regrets be? And, how can you work to rectify them now?

Assignment d'jour:

Go out and instigate a real conversation with a complete stranger.

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could give millions of dollars to supporting any cause, what would it be?
And, is there anything that you can do for that cause now?

Run Away Stagecoach

Two horses, intricately, intimately
lashed together, and to the carriage.
They know, only to go.

Head and heart

The passenger sees the world rolling by.
Looking out the window, clearly,
the horses are in charge.

So it seems

Landscapes lure,
yet the coach rolls
along and away.

Livestock oblivious

Shouting at the steeds
seems no help.
Head out window, should be louder.

Wind whips

Screaming.
Seeing,
A seat, atop.

Dare to venture

Inside to out
Passenger to coachman
Raging to reigning

New roost, new eyes

Each equine's soul
one per palm
Lines evaporate

three and one

Carriage and team
Captain and occupant
Traveler and journey

New world

Seeing
Doing
Being

Attuned

Unknown

If you want what visible reality
can give, you're an employee.
If you want the unseen world,
you're not living your truth.
Both wishes are foolish,
but you'll be forgiven for forgetting
that what you really want is
love's confusing joy.

- Rumi

Question d'jour:

Why is it that the emptier my mind becomes the more expansive I feel?

Assignment d'jour:

Take two pieces of paper
On one, write down all of the best qualities and traits you wish that you could embody.
On the other, write down all of the qualities and traits that you'd like to shed.
Hang the first on your mirror or fridge.
Throw the other one away.

Be the Being, Not the Thinking.

What is left after you've taken off all of your hats?

Give up or Lose

We lose control of our thinking mind when the thinker refuses to relinquish control.

Whoddhism

I'm a Buddhist - just not a practicing Buddhist

Excuse me?

I mean I don't really meditate, as a dedicated practice, but I really resonate with the teachings I've heard. I went on a Buddhist retreat, read a few books and I have a meditation CD set by … I just don't make the time to sit and get quiet, on a regular basis.

Hmm. I see. Well … I'm on this polo team, but I really don't swim; although, I've watched lots of games, many in person, I know all the best players and coaches, and I'm a regular subscriber of “WP Weekly”. I'm also in the pilot's union, although I don't actually fly. But I have heard several pilots talk in great detail about what it's like to do so and what they'd learned while doing it. And as soon as life settles down a bit I plan to ...

Oh, come on. That's not the same at all.

Because?

Because I'm talking about a religious conviction.

So, you profess a conviction to your religion – which, as it so happens, is built around fostering beneficent attitudes and ethics by means of Self exploration and discovery through the regular practice of meditation – and you don't meditate.

Look. I try to speak kindly to others. I recycle. I'm a regular donor to the “Save the Opossums” foundation. And I've even been thinking about knocking the cobwebs off of my bicycle to lesson my carbon footprint.

Excellent. Following the “rules of conduct” is a good place to start, but it's so easy to get mired in the rules, rites and protocols that you lose touch with the core intentions of the tradition.

Isn't meditating just another rite?

Yes. The same way that reading is an archaic ritual for those who subscribe to the news paper.

But you have to read if you want to learn from the paper. There's lots of ways to learn about Buddhism.

But learning about Buddhism's not the same as learning about your inner most nature, is it?

No. I suppose not.

And the intention of Buddhism is for one to do just that, is it not?

Well, primarily. But just look around. How many people profess an allegiance to other religions and only attend to the most superficial levels of their traditions? Aren't you applying higher standards here, than you would to them?

Not at all. Anyone who exhibits a shallow display of conviction is in the same boat. And, the “He was doing it, too.” argument didn't fly with your mom. What makes you think it'll work now?

Geeze! Why am I defending myself here?

My apologies. I really don't intend to be offensive. I'm just trying to make sense of your fist statement - “I'm alive, I just don't breath”.

(The evil eye is cast.)

OK. I admit it. That was a bit of a poke. I just couldn't resist.
Joining any religion should be about more than merging into a crowd and following the rules. Ideally, it should be about fostering a yearning to know the “mind of god” and diligently pursuing this ever evasive end.

But that kind of open ended pursuit sounds really extreme and grueling to me.

It does seem that way to one quadrant of the mind. But this is the same part that imagines stability everywhere, in a world where everything is always changing. Life is a mystery. The universe is unfathomable. So a major component in any religious quest is to come to terms with the constantly fluxing and ungraspable nature of reality.
Seeing the truth of universal interconnectedness and feeling compassion to every single being are two other major facets. These tend to come naturally to those who step behind the curtain of their constructed selves and free the divine spark that fuels their own being.

Why do I feel like you just dropped an anvil on my brain?

(Laughs) Because you're trying to take it all in through your intellect, which doesn't do unfathomable.

But that's how I process things. I mean, how else am I supposed to think?

Hmmm, I see. If you want the answer to that, perhaps you should consider practicing meditation.

Looking Up

I was sitting at a light, front of the line, left turn lane in my Falcon van. The light changed, I dropped it in gear, gave it a little gas and went to let out the clutch. As the clutch was sticking at the time, it held and then let go in a lurch, causing the engine to stall. Not the first time, so I wasn't surprised or upset, but did have a knee jerk “Doh!” moment.

Within seconds, I fired it up, put it back in gear and started pulling into the intersection ... just as a big white van came barreling through the red light, narrowly missing my nose.

Why, I wonder, do I thank the sky?

Reploying

I know that many consider my words to be dry and exceedingly intellectual. In fact, I'm very passionate about what I say. I just choose my words and organize my thoughts carefully. Because, dealing with such ethereal and esoteric subjects, it's natural and easy for the reader to bend my meanings to conform to their own preconceptions. So, I endeavor to be as clear and concise as possible. But I fear that I fail to really connect with many of my readers, because my writing sounds overly heady.

Obviously, I can't force feed knowledge and/or understanding to anyone. Some may be seeking what I have to offer and benefit from hearing it, or re-hearing it in another way. And for most of them, I'd like to imagine that my traditional course of delivery would still work fairly well. But that's a pretty small segment of the population. Some have seen glimpses of the un-self within, but don't feel coaxed into pursuing its wonders; and, some simply have no idea that there's another way of seeing and being, at all. Both of these latter groups would most likely walk right by my teachings with out so much as a glance. (It should be understood that I don't expect the average Joe to absorb everything in my weightier writings immediately, or the first time through. And I hope that they're thought provoking enough to inspire re-readings to clarify and congeal their messages.)

Others verbal interpretations of their unspeakable experiences can be clarifying and reassuring, but if one's not familiar with such experiences, the words may confuse more than communicate. My recent thinking is that it's more important for me to convey inspiration than facts. After all, it's well known that learning is more effective when one discovers the lessons on their own. In fact, some things can't be taught - only experienced.

What I need to do is inspire whimsical curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. To make people want to connect to themselves, their lives and other beings. To entice them to feel more fully and to share of themselves more freely. To shift their focus out of their minds and into the world, out of their little lives and into the greater unfolding.

So, how to generate emotional inspiration in others? How to touch the right brain by communicating to the verbal left? How to express the expansive nature of being in the moment to those who only live inside of their heads? How to awaken, in others, what they've forgotten is their natural state? How to easily break the news, that the self who was tempted into the journey has to surrender its heavy handed command before the promised rewards will be received?

And, if I'm to be a hard core pitchman for self exploration and discovery: How do I maintain my sincerity and integrity as I fabricate lures designed to invite people into finding the genuine articles that the lures pretend to be? I've seen what this can lead to. Clearly, I'm treading along the rim of a steep precipice here. The more fanciful and enticing I make the lures, the more the intangibles appear to be a part of the ordinary world, and the greater the illusion that it's all for, and accessible to, the ordinary mind.

So, I'm stoking the fires under my creative juices, even as I write this. It's unlikely that I'll discard my old ways entirely; but please, do pardon my play as I experiment with other modes of delivery.

When

When thoughts get tangled, invite silence.

When the path is unclear, sharpen your vision.

When overwhelmed with worry, imagine success.

When feeling all alone, find someone that you can help.

When weary or depressed, ask your breath to buoy your spirit.

When outside forces foil your plans, reassess, regroup and carry on.

When motivation wanes, consider the tenacity that's inherent in all of life.

When emotions boil over, kill the heat, lift the lid, inhale the aroma and let it rest.

When ungrounded, feel the sun on your skin, play with water, walk barefoot in the grass ...

When an others flaw shows, share a loving smile and offer a compliment or some encouragement.

When death passes near, be grateful for life, embrace the past, then open arms and eyes to the future.

When you think you've got it all figured out, recall the tale of the 3 blind men and the elephant.

When you observe yourself thinking, acting or speaking harshly, fess up and apologize.

When victorious or successful, acknowledge all the others who made it possible.

When faith wears thin, let the fabric unravel and feel your source being.

When you don't know what you want, what you want is to know.

When an answer doesn't come, rephrase your question.

When conflict arises, step into the others' shoes.

When feeling rushed, pause and breathe.

When in err, rejoice being human.

Listen Up

One of the most important times to be mindful is when talking to others.

Far too often, it seems as though people join in conversations, primarily, in order to speak. Some seek to build self esteem by making an impression on others, some feel deeply compelled to convey particular information, some strive to manipulate others - the reasons are many. Whatever the motivation, most people don't really tend to listen very well.

Minds wander or are too busy trying to figure out what thoughts to run through the mouth next, or are so impatient that they can't help but to blurt out their offerings in the middle of another's speech. Sometimes it's something completely unrelated and sometimes it's a response to the others thoughts before they've been fully delivered, which is kind of like watching the first half of a movie and then discussing its ending with imagined understanding. When I'm on the interrupted side in this scenario, it feels as dismissive as if the interrupter had just turned and walked away while I was in mid sentence, too impatient to allow me to finish or too uninterested in what I was saying.

Having practiced and taught exercises in active listening, I know that it can be a very illuminating and rewarding practice. Not only because one actually hears the others message, but because there's so much more to absorb about the other, when one decides to really tune in. And it's actually a functional method of meditation, too; in that, it requires prolonged focus and a selfless attitude in order to accept the flowing stream of words, feelings and ideas without judgment, evaluation or response.

The next time you find yourself in a conversation, try to give the other party's cause priority over your own. You'll find that it's far more challenging than it may sound. It'll probably take practice to get good at it. But I wager that, as you perfect the practice, your conversations will become more meaningful, you'll learn more about your self, world and friends and your relationships will grow much deeper.

It's a free and easily arranged experiment. You've got nothing to lose, so give it a try. Listen up and be there for the other side of the conversation. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how rewarding it can be.

Get Lost

Being present, in the moment, now. It's a very simple idea. But it can't be realized as long as one remains fixated in thought. It seems perfectly practical to the thinking mind. “The present is a thing (or a place or a state) that I am to remain affixed to.” But it isn't like that. By the time you've registered something occurring, it's already in the past – let alone after thinking about it. Being present is being on the leading edge of creation. It's more a state of anticipation than recognition.

You could take a snap shot of a sunset and have a perfectly nice memory. But it's merely a petrified footprint of a sunset that existed only momentarily, just for that spot on the planet and lived a lifetime of shapes and shades and shines, in a splash. When living within a world of thought, life is seen as a series of footprints, in the wake of the world that just happened.

It's no different than as seen reflected in listening to music. It can be a visceral experience when lost in it's unfolding – rather than lost in thought. In fact, “lost” is a prerequisite to full presence. Becoming one with the moment isn't just a catchy slogan. It's an accurate description. There can be no “one” when there's a “me”. Me, requires “other than me”.

So being present isn't so much about being just the right way. When you're there, it's more like “not-being”. Learning to hold space, maintain open presence and acute awareness, without claiming ownership of, or feeling compelled to articulate, anything. Without expectations, or need for experiences to mesh with preconceptions. Not seeing how it is in relation to one's self and story, but how it flows as an awe inspiring, ever emerging, spring of infinite creation.

There's an awareness that's always present, which seems to be us, but is clearly not the us we think of when considering who we are. Whether you interpret it as your higher self, God's presence within, or one of many facets of self doesn't matter. What does matter is that we learn to invite its untainted presence into our experiences and hear its council as much as we possibly can. The thinker won't care much for this idea. Promises of rewards can entice the thinker into cooperation, but it's like talking to a fish about mountain climbing. It just doesn't compute.

It's not that the thinker is necessarily wrong, it's just not as right as it thinks it is. It can't see beyond the confines of it's own view point, which will never reveal more than a fraction of life's unfolding from one small perspective. So we learn to accept that quiet presence as a life long companion and partner. Not because the book said to or because there's some reward in doing so; but rather, because it's the most accurate, honest and natural way to see and be.

Our job is not to manufacture and maintain our personal truth, but to be open to witnessing everything, as it appears, with full understanding that it's only appearances. We simply can't capture the truth, or even see it in its entirety. And that's OK.

We aren't here to serve our egos. They're here to serve us. So lose your little self and awaken to living your life, to seeing and feeling and hearing, to connecting on an intimate level with those around you, and to being as receptive as you can be, in all ways and to all things. Life is far too amazing/wondrous/awesome/remarkable/miraculous/astonishing/spectacular and marvelous to let it pass you by, while living out your days inside of your head. Go ahead, get lost, and be alive.

Isn't that the whole point?

The Thrifty Life

People tend to take life personally. Fantasies don't come true, jobs turn out to be 5 times bigger once commitments are made, the weather doesn't cooperate and other's attempts to fulfill their fantasies often interfere with our own schemes and dreams. When such events transpire, we feel frustration and disappointment, resentment and anger, all manner of negative responses spring to life as a result of our reactions to life's events.

Those of us who frequent thrift shops and garage sales learn to adopt a particular attitude when “thrifting”. Wants are clearly differentiated from needs, and hopes for specific presents are carried lightly. We enter with eyes wide, scanning shelves and racks for the slightest glint of special. Evaluation proceeds without attachments. When a zipper is found broken, the matching plate has a chip, the lamp doesn't light or the shoe doesn't fit, there's little sense of loss, because we don't own any of it. No time is spent mourning any absence. Focus clings to undiscovered possibilities. The eyes are back on the prowl, fingers feel for finery, feet seek virgin aisles and imagination invents new uses for curiosities – and all of this, usually, with thoughts of friends and family swirling through the racks, to broaden the scope of potential discoveries.

Whatever the spoils of our conquests, at the end of the day, surprise prizes are cherished every bit as much as that rare reward of a wish granted. And this mindset can be propagated.

It's probably not the most practical way to exercise this attitude (unless you happen to own a chain of self storage complexes) but clearly, there are some lessons, imparted through thrifting, worthy of being integrated into daily life. Take things as they come, be happy with what you have, keep your focus on the positive, look for the special in the ordinary, …

Better living through “thrifty” thinking.

No Recipe for Success

Meditation doesn't want to be formulaic, consistent and predictable. It's not like cooking a preplanned meal in accordance with specific instructions. It's more like cooking from a pantry that's stocked with varying ingredients, while trying to satisfy dietary requirements that differ daily. The playing field is always shifting. Our needs change, as do the means to meet them – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

Developing skill in meditation isn't about learning the correct technique and perfecting its execution. It's developing the sensitivity to clearly observe one's inner world, and honing the instincts to adjust goals and tactics on the fly.

It's an art not a science, and should feel more like exploring, investigating or listening than working. It does require serious dedication, but shouldn't be taken all too seriously, on the cushion. Effort should be applied to clarifying intentions, not to practicing quietude. Meditation should be thought of as an act of surrendering, rather than accomplishing. Although it's commonly a pleasant side effect, we don't meditate to improve ourselves. We meditate to lose our selves.

Kinda hard to do when following directions.

Garden of the Mind

Things just pop up from the ever fertile soil of our minds. Thoughts, images, emotions, vague inklings, brilliant insights, everything that arises within is a gift from beneath the surface of consciousness. It may seem like the mind creates them, because that's where they're acknowledged. But it really only discovers and labels them. In truth, our flowery thoughts only exist within the field of fixed ideas, and we only perceive that part of our mind because of the foliage that's growing there.

Many take their garden as a given condition and ingest whatever sprouts up. But we don't have any moral obligation to anything growing there, and can weed freely and choose which ones to nurture, in accordance with our values and priorities. We can sow seeds and transplant notions from other's gardens, and we can change or reconfigure it, at any time.

Like any garden, it's never complete. It's a continually evolving thing, that is ever waiting to be re-envisioned, reinvented and molded into a new and unique entity.

Step back, walk around it and take a good look. After a reasonable assessment, grab your shovel and pruners, select some healthy seeds or a hand me down bush and get to work – begging your pardon, get to play.

Not all Breaths are Created Equal

I haven't a clue how many times I've encouraged others to be aware of their breath, and I really can't think of a more important or meaningful thing for people to tend to.

The breath of life. Quite simply, without our breath as a constant companion, we wouldn't be here. When you think about it in those terms, each and every breath we take sustains our existence over the next few minutes. And, not all breaths are created equal. The fullness of the inhale, the completeness of the exhale, the places and durations of pauses, the pace and intensity of its movements, and the attitudes and focus' all tint the neutrality of pure prana, en route to our cells and synapses.

The quality of each moment of life is greatly influenced by the quality of the last few breaths. And it's all completely free for the taking. (Well, you might have to “pay” attention.) It's like the universe has provided us with an absolutely abundant larder and granted us open access to it. Each breath is a scoop of vital life force that splashes into our heart centers and cascades throughout our bodies and minds in a perpetual play of give and take. “Excuse me. Might I please borrow another cup of prana?”

First, one has to take the time to get to know the breath, in all its guises, and observe the corresponding effects on the body and brain. Then we can develop the skill to intentionally influence our state of being through conscious control of the breath.

It may seem like a huge commitment to endeavor to hold perpetual awareness and mastery of our breathing. But it “pays off in spades”, often, in unexpected ways. Our breathing is always happening, and it takes as much energy to ignore something that's so “in your face” as it does to pay attention to it.

The breath is always affecting the way the mind works, shouldn't the door swing both ways?

For all intents and purposes, on a personal level, our lives are as we perceive them to be. If there's a way for us to manage how we experience and react to our world, doesn't it seem like something that deserves the highest priority? And it's as easy and natural as ... well, breathing. The body already knows how to utilize the breath, demonstrating its prowess through such acts as: yawning, sighing, coughing, crying, gasping, laughing, grunting, moaning and humming.

If only it required something that could turn a profit. Then, at least, there'd be some infomercials out there pushing the message, too. Instead, you've just got the likes of me. I broadcast my words into the air and across the expanses of cyberspace in the hopes that someone will hear me, take a little time to ponder my thoughts and receive some new insights or a fresh perspective.

Accepting that your breath is largely responsible for how you see and feel, in each passing moment - if you're not in control of it, then who is? Shut off the autopilot. Pay attention and take charge. It's the obvious choice, when you look at your options.

How do you want to feel over the next minute or three? Imagine it and invite your breath to help you bring that feeling to life. Whether you acknowledge it or not, your breath is always actively feeding your being for the immediate future, shaping and coloring your every experience.

Breathe wisely.

Strivin' for Thrivin'

It may surprise you, but one of the worst things that could happen to you is to get everything you want, to have a perfect life, to be completed. It's the quest for “better” that gets and keeps us going, that inspires fantasy, ingenuity and ambition, that sparks our evolution. Without cause for motivation, we'd all wind up lazy, fat and discontent.

Change being the only constant - even if everything was absolutely perfect, it wouldn't stay that way. But let's fantasize for the moment that it could. If all the pieces came together and stayed arranged, just so, our minds would soon grow weary of the status quo. It's just the way we're wired. Can you think of any prize that you've ever gotten that you didn't tire of or lose excitement about sooner or later? I can't.

Imperfection and impermanence are our friends. It's a choice to fret and despair over the imperfection of present circumstances - and not a particularly helpful one. (Ideally, at that point, woe becomes the motivating imperfection, and steps are taken to make oneself feel better.)

Embrace the opportunity to overcome life's difficulties. Relish the challenge of recreating yourself, over and over. Thank those who create obstacles for you. When an accident happens or you shoot yourself in the foot, consider it as a lesson, digest it and move on. Greet the uncomfortable and unexpected as old friends who are here to help you learn and grow.

Living isn't easy, and we shouldn't want it to be. It's not a matter of staying on the sunny side of the street or dawning those rose colored glasses. Sure, we enjoy our experiences more when we maintain a positive attitude, but it quite simply makes us better, as people and as a species, to have to figure things out and do the work to make things happen.

Enjoy the struggle and strive to thrive.

Rubber Band Bodies

During asana practice, teachers are always talking about the edge, referring to a point where the body reaches its limit. The term is a grand misnomer. When we think of an edge, we envision a clean sharp well defined line. There is no such beast in the body.

Imagine taking a rubber band between fingers and thumbs of both hands and then moving them away from each other. At some point the slack is pulled taught with no resistance. If you were to continue opening the space between your hands, tension would grow in relation to the lengthening of the band. At some point the strain reaches its maximum and any further movement would result in its breaking.

When we practice asana, our muscles respond very much the same. Our “edge” encompasses the entire range from barely noticeable, to extreme, resistance. Given that, in life, more effort generally yields better results, it's no wonder that so many push their body to the point that the rubber band is about to snap, and then push more. This, however, is unquestionably a case where less is more.

It requires more than a superficial passing acknowledgment that practicing yoga asana about communing with the body, not achieving mastery over it.

Again. Practicing yoga's about communing with the body, not achieving mastery over it.

Yoga asana is great exercise, and there's nothing wrong with taking it as no more than that. True, it may be discounting the most valuable aspects of it, but that doesn't detract from the positive benefits of the exercises and the value of a regular practice.

Even if one thinks all of that “one big family, love the earth, vibrational harmony, spiritual evolution” stuff is all a bunch of crap, that doesn't change the reality of our physicality. The body has its own self protection mechanisms. It doesn't care if its some thug in a back alley or its own mind on a yoga mat whose trying to bully it. It reacts the same.

As you play with your rubber band, it's simply better to hold back from applying maximum force. That way the body doesn't go into defensive mode. If you do feel compelled to go for the gusto (because it can feel really good) it's best to modulate your efforts, so that the muscles don't settle into lock down.

And unlike rubber bands, the body has moods and weather cycles and seasons. A rote strategy doesn't work when the team has different players every game. The coach has to assess each time, and modify the game plan accordingly, in order to get the best results. So slow down and play nice.

It's not mystical, touchy feely or new agey - “Just the physiological facts, ma'am”.

The Caesar Syndrome

When the “Dog Whisperer” goes to meet new clients, they always think it's going to be all about training the dogs. But it always turns out to be the “masters” who need to be trained, in order to bring their relationships into a healthy balance.

People come to yoga expecting to train their bodies to conform to their wills. But in the end, it's the will that has to be trained to accept its role as a part of the whole, and invite a unified relationship of body, mind and spirit.

The Seemy Side of Life.

It seems obvious. In our black and white divinations, things are judged as being either beneficial or detrimental. But we've all had experiences when we've done something wrong or experienced something that didn't go as per our wishes, which was later revealed as being the first step along a fortuitous course of events.

I recall hearing a parable a number of years ago – I believe it was credited to ancient china: A farmers horse runs away. His neighbors console him for his misfortune. “It does appear to be a bad turn of luck ... We'll see.” A couple weeks later, his mare returned with a fine stallion in tow. His neighbors were elated and showered him with good cheer in a display of unity. “It certainly seems like a blessing. Time will tell.” The next day when the farmers son was trying to break in the horse, he was thrown and broke his ankle instead. The neighbors pitched in, bringing food and helping with chores as a way of showing their support in this time of dire crisis. “It is unfortunate and debilitation, indeed, but one never knows what the future will hold.” The next week, when the army came through the village looking to “recruit” some more fodder for their campaign, being unable to walk, his son was spared the atrocities and horrors of war.

We can try to assimilate an imaginary world of interpretation and conjecture. But life is simply what it is. It's much easier and more truthful to just take it as it comes, remaining ever on the verge of discovery. Trying to invent and protect a fantasy is a fanciful and fruitless affair. The breeze is blowing, the leaves limbo low, worms tunnel over the molten magma and flecks flare across the sky in the culmination of their billion year trek across the cosmos. Far too many dominoes for anyone to see the whats and hows, to foresee the wheres and whens or to comprehend who and why.

Grant life its rightful mystery. Let it be what it wants to be – it will anyway.

Sorry, you can't get here from there.

All of this outpouring of words, spilling down the page, is evidence of my efforts to promote others experiencing a world beyond words. It's not theory or philosophical conjecture. It's not a search for meaning or pointing toward any imaginary ultimate truth. It's an attempt to lure people out of their familiar and comfortable ways of thinking and seeing.

You can't learn what I strive to teach through my words, alone. Hopefully, once one's made the commitment to de-prioritizing self centered concerns and continually inviting an ever expanding view point, my attempts to express my experiences will serve as confirmations.

We are often mistaken and easily deceived. If we're honest with ourselves, we simply can't trust what we know or see to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Especially, when the experiences are solitary, personal ones. So we owe it to each other to try to describe our ethereal and intangible encounters, that we might help each other to keep our bearings.

It's not possible to think your way into quietude. You can't surrender through force of effort. A full vessel cannot receive.

Sorry, you can't get here from there. Close your eyes, make a wish and jump.

To be and not to be – that is the answer.

We have two primary and distinctive aspects of our being.

One feels like and is most commonly identified with as our selves. This is our ego. Our thoughts and emotions, our wants and worries, our likes and dislikes, our perceived strengths and weaknesses – in short, everything that constitutes our images and ideas of who and what we are, personally and in relation to the rest of our world.

The other is an awareness which may feel like and be imagined as other than ourselves. In fact, it is other than our selves, when one adheres to the ego definition of self. Terms like “the mind of God”, “universal consciousness”, “shared awareness” and the like have been applied to this aspect of our being. However it's labeled or interpreted, it's ever present for, and with, each of us. And it's far more consistent and enduring than any notions about who and/or what we are.

Most people get trapped in their egos, so my teaching is primarily steering others in the opposite direction. This may leave the impression that the ego is an obstacle or burden that should be eliminated. This is not the case. If I were to see people using only their right hands, I would encourage them to use their left hands. And habit being as it is, I would have to say it over and over, ad nauseum. Obviously, I wouldn't be asking them to remove their right hands; but simply to find a balance, to use and value both sides with equal importance.

With all of one's eggs in the ego's basket, action and attitudes are primarily geared toward short term self interest; and therefore, are generally not in the best interest of the whole. If they were all in the non-personal awareness' basket, patience and acceptance would prosper to the point that little action would happen and creativity would be greatly curtailed.

In finding a balance between our personal ambitions and timeless, non-personalized observation, we become optimally productive and effective – for our selves, in the bigger picture and over the long haul.

To be and not to be – that is the answer.

“A clean work space is a safe and efficient work space.”

We all have a giant chalk boards in our minds. (Some gianter than others, no doubt.) We write down notes about everything we do, experience and believe. We write and write, learning to use different colors to add discernible layers once the board's been whitewashed with worries, wants and wonderings. It becomes a cacophonous collage that's difficult to decipher.

Tis better to clear the board on a regular basis. With the board cleaned, priorities, proverbs and preferences remain clear, and can be properly positioned to highlight the broadest possible overview and to illuminate the most important details, for our nomadic attention.

It's far more important than it may seem. The state of your chalkboard greatly affects your functioning in, and the way you interpret, your world - all day, every day. No aspect of your life is immune to its influence.

Sorry, they haven't come up with an effective board cleaning machine, yet. (Although many have tried.) You'll have to roll up your sleeves, on a regular basis, and do the maintenance, yourself. Meditation, or whatever technique or combination of practices does the trick for you, make the time and do the work.

Shhh, hhhh, shhh, hhhh, shhh, hhhh, shhh, hhhh, ...

Dance with the rhythm.

On This Love Your Mother Day

The earth does not belong to us - we belong to it.
- Chief Seattle

You never miss the water 'til the well runs dry. (He types, hearing the melodic Mills Brothers in his head.) Likewise, breathable air, living soil, abundant and diverse lifeforms, safe water and a protective atmosphere are all commonly taken for granted.

This is such an amazing and wonderful planet, on which we live. It's such a rare and precious gift. Let's not wait until it's not, before realizing this. After tens of thousands of years, as a species, we are in the unique position to be the ones who ruin it all, if we don't mend our ways, now.

Not the legacy I wish to leave. How 'bout you? Please, practice and teach sustainable living whenever, wherever and however possible, for the sake of all species, our future generations and the planet as a living breathing organism.


We don't own the earth – we owe it.

The Language of Silence

The conceptual mind knows only the language of reason and logic. It immediately disregards any understanding that presents in another form, as irrelevant, invalid or unreal.

I only speak English. I could assume that someone speaking another language was spouting nonsensical gobbledygook, and casually discount their messages, off hand. That, of course, would be foolish, incredibly egocentric and woefully wasteful.

There are valuable inner languages of vision and metaphor, mist and riddle, hint and silence. Do not let the thinker brush them away.

Happy days are here … and now.

Happy days are here and now
The skies above are clear, and how
Let's sing a song of cheer right now
Happy days are ...

Memorable moments in our lives are made so, because we're engrossed in the occasion, while it's happening. The question is - Are we engrossed in the moment because the events are so special, or are they made more special because we're so engrossed in them? The answer is – Both.

We can't control when or whether life will enamor us, but we can choose to be extra attentive, anytime. And in so doing, we enhance our experience and our enjoyment of any and every situation. The mundane becomes marvelous and the pleasant made sublime. True, you may find yourself brought to tears by something that you wouldn't even have noticed before, but that's a result of compassion and empathy that simply can't flourish when the light of creation is blotted out by the canopy of self interest.

Fanciful notions and images can be alluring, but they happen outside of time, independent of our spinning world, and exist only for the individual. Stepping into the stream of the present moment is the only way to be fully involved in the world, and is the only way to experience it in all its glory.

Stop everything, close your eyes, inhale deeply. Pause and let go of any mental/emotional clinging as you exhale, slowly. Open your eyes and greet the world, anew.

Repeat as needed.

The Tao is Now

"Truth cannot be conveyed in words.
Words disguise the subtle essence.

We give names to truth,
but these names are unreliable
as a finger pointing at the moon.

As soon as the moon rises,
the finger points to empty skies.

Let's face it.
Truth is naked, unadorned.
It has no name. It has no form.

Nameless and formless,
the subtle essence gives birth
to all the forms that walk the earth.

Words and concepts come later,
giving rise to all kinds of theories,
explanations and beliefs.

Complexities abound.
Misunderstandings proliferate.

The more words people use,
the harder it is to understand them.

Truth is not to be found in thinking
or conversing.

It is not found in preferences
or opinions.

If you want to find the subtle essence,
get quiet and accept what is.

Wise beings do not engage
in selective seeing.

They see what is in front of them,
whether it pleases them or not.

To see what is, is to rest in the Tao.
Tao is neither for nor against.

It has no expectations.
It makes no judgments.

It is transparent like a window.
It lets in both sunlight and shadow."


The Great Way of All Beings ~
renderings of Lao Tzu ~
Translation by Paul Ferrini

Warrior of Light

Every Warrior of the Light has
felt afraid of going into battle.
Every Warrior of the Light has,
at some time in the past, lied or betrayed someone.
Every Warrior of the Light has
trodden a path that was not his.
Every Warrior of the Light has
suffered for the most trivial of reasons.
Every Warrior of the Light has, at least once,
believed he was not a Warrior of the Light.
Every Warrior of the Light has
failed in his spiritual duties.
Every Warrior of the Light has
said 'yes' when he wanted to say 'no.'
Every Warrior of the Light has
hurt someone he loved.

That is why he is a Warrior of the Light,
because he has been through all this
and yet has never lost hope of
being better than he is."

- Paul Coelho

Foolish Optimism

A man told me that he was going to know,
for certain.

I laughed at his foolish optimism
as I headed off to scoop up
the ocean, with my bucket.

Painting Reflections

When I learned to harvest the sun and draw it's brilliance into my home, I discovered that, in the window through which I view the outside world, I could see a reflection gazing back at me. The quieter I would dim the sun outside, the brighter it became inside and the clearer and more defined the image became.

It wasn't long before I discovered that I could paint on the glass with my words, and I cleverly proceeded to paint in the stencil of the reflection I saw, so that the image appeared more defined, constant and substantial. Granted, it didn't dance on the glass like the vague shadow did and it obscured my view of the outside, somewhat. But I found it considerably less disorienting once I used my words to paint in the outer vista as well. Then, it too, appeared stable and reliable, from any angle and in any light.

I was happy for a spell. The consistency of the picture felt reassuring, even pacifying, but somehow, I began to sense that something was missing. As easy and comfortable as it was to relate to the stable, two dimensional, polychromatic vision I'd created, that flat, unmoving picture was lifeless and, ultimately, uninspiring.

Misty memories still lingered. A world that moved, had weather and seasons, and offered sights inspiring wonder and surprise, daily, hourly, continually. The soft reflection that used to smile and dance with me, in expressions of spontaneous exuberance. And the window so clean and clear that it even let the breeze through.

Perhaps there was a flaw in my scheme. Maybe the uncertainty and inconsistency of a living world is better than the stability and predictability that accompanied my painted representations.

New habits, by then old and ingrained, I tried to use my words to paint the window clean. The images changed, became more defined in areas, perhaps more accurate. But the more words I applied the thicker and heavier the coating became.

My desire to see the way I used to was powerful. So I took some of my strongest words and ideas, shaped them into a chisel and tried to use it to scrape the pane clean. Who knew that mere words could set into such a hard, permanent and impenetrable barrier? The chisel chipped, sending only some small flakes flying, revealing still more layers of beliefs lying beneath, left over from fantasies past.

I tried different words and languages. I empowered my messages with different emotions and intentions, as I attempted to create the perfect solvent. As much and as long as I tried, I couldn't manage to cleanse the glass. After much effort, feeling completely powerless in this struggle, I sat down, exasperated and exhausted.

In my fatigue, there remained a remnant of my desire to see clearly once again, but no impetus to act. I just sat down and fell into silent surrender. My gaze, softly aimed in the general direction of the once window, soon detected a glimmer of outside coming through a tiny hole. I immediately focused my attention there trying to figure out what was happening, why it was happening and if it was really happening. As soon as I did so, new words added to old worries, they dripped over the shiny spec and, in an instant, it was gone.

So I sat again and stared at the window, willing an opening in my masterpiece, through which honest light could shine. All I accomplished was to give myself a headache. Tired and frustrated, I let go of my efforts and let my vision engulf the entirety of my surroundings. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I did so, my artified verbiage began to thin and sag, hinting at it's true nature of insubstantiality.

In time, I learned that the most potent solvent is quiet surrender, and as I practiced the window became cleaner and clearer and, yes, I even began to feel fresh air flowing through the membrane, once again. I still clumsily spill words all over it from time to time, but can now feel my misstep as it's happening, and I know, full well, the value of clear vision and how to tidy up my messes, when need be. My world moves again. It sighs and cries, doles out extreme insights, and giggles like a baby. And I've rekindled my friendship with the malleable mystery man who's always ready to share a friendly smile with me.

I love my clean window and I accept that it's not always so. Brush teeth, wash dishes, clear the window. It's a duty and a desire – a part of fulfilling the obligations that I assumed in gratitude for this gift of being.

My experiences have inspired and empowered me to help others to see the illusions obscuring their own vision, and to provide them with the means to clear the field for themselves. It may not sound like much, to the uninitiated, and it often feels like I'm speaking to the air. But I can think of no more meaningful contribution to make with this life of mine – for the individuals I can reach and for the people and planet that they're shaping.

Surrender. Let the words fall away. Let the light in. Let the world begin, again.